death dance
by The Black Gryphon
Summary: "It pierced his soul, yet it left him confused. This young man, it seemed, was not what he appeared to be." (temporarily on hold)


AN: Hello minna-san! This is my newest fic, oddly named Death Dance.

*has armor on* anyway, this is an AU fic, which means nothing will go along with the original plot of RK. The love paring here is Soujirou-Misao (if I continue this anyway) though there may be a love triangle... (I'm not telling what... it's a odd one). This fic, is an experimental, which means if enough of you don't like it, I won't continue it... anyway, your opinions are wanted, and a warning, it can get confusing through the story!

"Someone! Anyone! Please... HELP ME!!!!!!"

Soujirou bolted out of his sleep, sweat dripping off of his forehead.

"Just... what was that?" He frowned when suddenly the feeling, slipped away, like it was water... or something. Getting up, he brushed off the leaves from his clothes, he picked up his things and continued forward. A few hours later, he found himself staring at a old, beautiful city. A few passerby were along the road, and finding himself without any clue, he ventured to ask a duo who were walking by.

"Ano, If you could, can you please tell... Kamatari?"

The 'woman' blinked and gazed at the man. He was tall, devilishly handsome, yet had a girlish type of look to him. Kind of like Hiro and...

"AH! Soujirou-san! It's been a long time! I didn't recognize you with that long hair!" Kamatari patted him on the back before turning his head to his companion.

"Hiro-kun! This is..." His friend however, did not even look up.

"The Tenken, Seta Soujirou..." He continued to walk forward, as if not caring at all.

"Mou... You'd think he'd lighten up after 2 years. Oh well, Soujirou-kun! You must come with us into Tokyo!" THIS however caught his companion's attention.

"TOKYO? Kamatari! You never, EVER mentioned we were STOPPING here!" Soujirou caught hold of his young man's appearance. His bangs covered side of his face, almost entirely when he moved, his face holding an feminine appeal (and if Kamatari didn't say 'he', Soujirou would of mistaken him for a GIRL)... but what was most shocking were his eyes. They seemed to shift different colors when he expressed extreme emotions, from the calm, rich sea blue, to the indigo-purplish in anger (which he was expressing right now). It pierced his soul, yet it left him confused. This young man, it seemed, was not what he appeared to be.

"Why so mad Hiro? Is there something here in Tokyo you don't want to so see?" Kamatari leaned into his friends face. Turning his face, Hiro growled.

"Oh ho! There is! But, I want to enjoy this place for a bit, so please bear with me. I mean, you made me stay out of both Edo AND Kyoto..." Kamatari grumped and then glared at Hiro. Lips thinning, Hiro hung his head in defeat.

"Fine, but only for 3 days. Lets get to a inn." With that Hiro started to walk forward, his black clothes barely making a sound. Happy that he had gotten his way, Kamatari grabbed Soujirou's sleeve.

"YOU'RE coming with us! We must get these HORRID old clothes replaced." Kamatari held the sleeve away as in disgust. "I'm sure Hiro-kun won't mind letting me spend some of the extra money we have!"

"You know my answer," Hiro started, "But you spend it anyway. Here..." Hiro reached into the inner fold of his vest and took out his purse, which he threw to Kamatari. After he made sure ONE of the 2 had caught it, he pointed to a building.

"That house with the brick red roofing. By the river..." Making sure that Kamatari knew WHICH house, "Is the inn we're staying in. IF you want to visit the Himura... The dojo is 7 blocks to the west, right there." And with that, Hiro leapt down the hill and into the trees. Soujirou tried to catch sight of him, but for some reason, couldn't.

"I wouldn't try Soujirou-kun. You may of been the fastest of us, but in the trees, your no match for Hiro..." Kamatari seemed remorseful for a second before suddenly grabbing Soujirou. "NOW! Since my money grubbing partner had relinquished his wallet, lets go to the town!"

"Wait, Kamatari-san! I don't really need new clothes. I don't think you should be spending your friends money like that!"

"Mou! He doesn't mind at all! It's not like I don't spend his money all the time! Besides, your patchwork is horrible. Now COME!"

"I really think that old style of yours is very unbefitting your new look. Will you at LEAST consider this green?" Kamatari groaned as Soujirou was about to take off. Well, at lest he got him to get newer versions of his clothes. But the Inn was the other way!

"Soujirou, the inn is the other way! at least drop off your stuff!" Kamatari yelled at him, placing the pot down. When he looked up, he found Soujirou nowhere in sight.

"Now what... I know! Sir, I'd like to buy this Kimono!"

Hiro paused in his meditation as he heard footsteps resonating through the temple.

"Does Kamatari want more money or something?" He asked Soujirou while getting up.

"No, I'm just wondering..." Hiro's now lucid blue eyes turned to him. "Why do you refuse to stay in Tokyo, Edo, or Kyoto?"

"I don't like these cities. Now, please excuse me." Soujirou let him pass and stared at Hiro's back. His clothes was comprised of black, knee high westerns boots, black pants, a European black vest fringed with silver and red, and underneath that, a deep navy blue shirt that reminded him of shirts he had seen from Mainland Asia. Overall, his clothes were all imported, which implied he was either a traveler or very rich. Bells were tied onto his ankles, wrists and on the tie of his ponytail. A mix of feminine and masculine tastes. But something was wrong. It was as if his very soul was in chaos... Soujirou, however realized that Hiro was turning the corner and he had no idea how to get out of this place. Dashing down, he followed Hiro till they stopped in front of the inn.

"I hope you memorized the way from here to the temple, because next time, I won't walk so slowly." Hiro glanced back to Soujirou, who just smiled. This Hiro, was a case alright...

"BAKA!" Kamatari whacked the back of Hiro's head with a stick, catching the young man off guard. "Why do you have to be so high and mighty now! I mean, You are only 22 years old and you act like a fussy old man! LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE THE YOUNG PERSON YOU ARE!!!" Kamatari shook his companion while most of the inn and Soujirou stared. Here was this... woman... shaking the life out of a young man who didn't seemed bothered at all! As Kamatari let go, however, they figured out why.

"MOU! Um, miss, I think you knocked him out." Several young girls glared at Kamatari, who sweatdropped. "Funny, he never did THAT before!"

"That's because the last time you weren't using a certain someone's blade as your stick!" Hiro raged, rubbing his head. Kamatari laughed and threw Soujirou back his sword. Several girls flocked around Hiro, preening and swooning over him.

"Hiro-sama! Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Did the psycho woman hit you hard?"

"Such an uncultured lady, unlike you Hiro-sama!"

By now, yep you guessed it, Kamatari was pissed. Hiro silently got up and walked towards the stairs. His cold, unfeeling manner caused all the girls to swoon.

"HIRO-SAMA!!!!"

"Oh brother. Come on Soujirou, we need to check out our rooms anyway!" Kamatari grabbed Soujirou by the collar before he could become the second object of the girls affection.

"That man was so CUTE!!!"

"He just looks like Himura!!!!!!"

"But Himura has LONG hair and a scar...." "and he's married..."

... wait... Kenshin lived here? In Tokyo? In Edo... and Kyoto... this was somehow... connecting to the Oniwabanshuu...

Making sure that no one was awake, Hiro sighed and took off his upper shirt and sash. His tobi Kunai fell out, but were caught before they could hit the floor. They were tarnished and dull from lack of use. He would polish and repair them later. Continuing to disrobe, he nearly took off his inner shirt when there was a knock.

"Who is it?"

"Me..." Hiro pulled his shirt tighter and opened the door without turning fully. Kamatari closed the door. Hiro began to unbutton his shirt. "He's asleep right?" With a nod of Kamatari's head, he relaxed visibly.

"Gomen. I just remembered why you didn't want to come here." Kamatari sat down.

"You were excited about being in a city. I understand that. Anyway, we'll leave in 2 days, enough time to enjoy Tokyo, ok?" Hiro smiled before continuing to disrobe, oblivious to the fact that Soujirou was listening from the other side of the wall.

"I know, but shouldn't you face your past? I know that Aoshi..."

"ENOUGH! You know how I feel about... him, please don't say his name!"

'What does Aoshi have to do with this?'

"Maa maa, Anyway, are you sure about not visiting Kenshin? I mean, you've changed over 5 years, I doubt he'd recognize you, with this appearance anyway. Even Soujirou, who rarely ever forgot a face, didn't recognized you. Heck, I didn't and I fought you before." Kamatari stared at Hiro's back.

"Kenshin... he's different. He knows who you are because of your souls, the quirks in your attitude that you couldn't get rid of. Even if you tried." Hiro threw his shirt aside. Bolting up, Soujirou stared at the shadows as it fell, revealing what looked like softer curves of a young woman. Turning, he closed his eyes... It was just the candle light...

Soujirou was standing somewhere now. Looking at his hands, he blinked as he saw they were smaller. Looking into a puddle, he found himself about 10. He could hear sobbing from nearby. He feet moved on their own as he raced towards the source, only to find himself faced with a young girl, her braid dripping into a muddy puddle. She rubbed her cheeks and tried to stop her sniffles.

"What's wrong?" The girl turned her head quickly and stared at him before breaking down again.

"The baby chick fell out of it's nest. I tried to help it, but a mean cat came in and snatched it away!" She sniffled and Soujirou reached out to touch her when a bright light blinded him.

Opening his eyes, Soujirou stood up, making sure that Kamatari didn't wake up because of his movement. Putting on his clothes, he walked outside of the hall to hear the waitress in the small restaurant in the inn gush about something. Walking beside her, he saw Hiro in the yard, his vest off and these peculiar looking daggers in his hands, the bells on his hairtie, wrists and on the ends of the daggers ringing. He never saw any like them in JAPAN, but oddly, they looked like something he had heard of. Hiro fought as if he was both facing an opponent and dancing with someone, his graceful moves hiding the fact that the daggers could cut your throat out with the same gesture. 

"Waiii! he's so graceful!"

"Do you know who he is?" The waitress jumped and blushed.

"W-well, he's known as The dancing death, because of his grace and movements... I'd love to see him fight! he must be even more beautiful!"

"What is so beautiful in death?" Soujirou murmured, not catching the waitress' attention. The bells continued to ring in... a haunting and mesmerizing melody... THAT'S what they were for, they caught the enemy off guard!

"Ah, so he's using the Sparrow's melody..." Kamatari observed. The waitress epped and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the 2 there. Hiro eventually flipped into the air, his left dagger poised upwards in front of him, the other at his side, much lower then the left one. Letting his arms rest, Hiro reached for a towel he brought out.

"Your worse then Sou-chan here!" Kamatari grumbled as he let Hiro pass.

"You can't improve unless you practice Kama-chan..."

"MY NAME IS NOT KAMA-CHAN!" Kamatari let out a war cry and started to chase his companion around the kitchen, much to the staff's dismay. Hiro began to laugh as he nimbly dodged his outraged friend and leapt out of the inn, only to crash into someone. Groaning, Hiro held his head and looked down to see who he had tripped over.

"HEY! Watch where your going!" Yahiko spat out, not noticing the pale look on Hiro's face. Getting up, he bowed his head, letting the shadows from his bangs hid his eyes.

"Sorry." And with that, he took off, leaping onto a nearby roof.

"HIRO! Wait!" Kamatari took off after Hiro, dodging people with ease. Yahiko just stared after them when it struck him.

"Weasel..." Yahiko took off running towards the dojo Hiro had pointed out before. Soujirou, confused, decided to follow the young boy, well, MAN. Besides, Kamatari seemed to of had handled this before.

Tackling Hiro, Kamatari pinned him to the forest floor.

"Hiro!" The boy didn't stop struggling. "Hiro! STOP IT! STOP IT MISAO!" The mentioning of first birth name snapped her out of it.

"Why... WHY?" She pounded the ground in frustration. Kamatari let her get up and stood there. Sitting on the ground, Misao hung her head.

"I didn't want to face this... not yet..."

"Misao..." Kamatari frowned and then placed a hand on her shoulder. When the sobbing continued, Kamatari was at a loss. Even HE didn't know what Misao had done before he met her, Kamatari met her 2 years ago in a country called Great Britain. Misao clutched her head as she remembered the horrible night 5 years ago...

~~Flashback~~

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao narrowly dodged another wild blow from the assassin's questing blade. Aoshi grunted and launched a counterattack against him when suddenly there was a scream as Misao was sent flying backwards as a hidden landmine blew up nearby. Quickly slashing the assassin down, Aoshi ran to grab Misao's hand. Catching it barely, he started to pull her upwards when...

"AOSHI-SAMA! WATCH OUT!" Turning his head, Aoshi found the assassin staggering as he held up a blade aimed for his heart. He could only do one thing. Either hang onto Misao's hand or let go and defend. The blade came downwards.

"Okan! More towels! The bleeding won't stop!"

"Misao! Are you alright? Misao!"

The last thing Misao saw for a while was the astonished face of Okina.

Misao looked into the city of Kyoto one last time before dashing off. Aoshi-sama got hurt because of her, he always did. It was better if she wasn't there. Better... She didn't realize where she was till she was standing on the deck of a ship. Subconsciously, she supposed later on, he body had taken the surest route her confused mind could of thought of. A nice old couple on the ship told her that this ship was heading towards Germany, and that if she needed help, they could stay with them.

__

"why?"

"Your eyes tell me of great tale of sadness in your eyes, one that I would wish to hear of." The old man responded with a smile. "Besides, we're getting too old to take care of ourselves. We need someone to take care of us in our old age."

She stayed with them over 9 months, taking a type of fencing with sabers. The teachers, though reluctant for a while (but with a order from the old man, who happened to RUN the school, allowed her in), praised her on her incredible skill with a saber and thought her to be a 'prodigy'. To further her education, the kind couple told her go on a trip to visit some of their relatives and Misao found herself once against on a ship, this time headed towards Great Britain. There, she managed to obtain two short daggers from the middle east, from a place near the continent 'Afrika' (she still couldn't get that right, but then again, she learned the Germanic language.)*AN: remember the Afrika Korps from your history class anyone?* One sunny day, she managed to get into a team fight with some unknown woman who was swearing in Japanese. After the men lay unconscious, they turned to greet each other. Kamatari always teased her about how her face looked at that moment.

Two years later, Misao happily returned to Germany with Kamatari, but the scene that greeted her... How could... why did... Kamatari managed to help her through the... massacre... of her surrogate 'parents'. It was then she decided to get rid off all traces of her past, even to the point she refused to consider herself a girl... She lost almost all trace of her humanity, with one single blow it began... her decent into the darkness...

~~end of flashback~~

Misao clutched her head even tighter and let out a terrified scream. 

"Misao-chan! Get a hold of yourself! Misao!" Kamatari gritted his teeth as he tried to hold Misao down when she lunged out at him, her dagger nearly cutting his throat.

"Damnit!" Kamatari looked for some sort of weapon to defend himself. Misao's quick moves and blind rage made it nearly impossible for him to pay full attention to his surroundings, when she suddenly lunged at him.

"MISAO!!!" Kamatari crossed his arms in front of himself when a blade intercepted the blow.

"Kenshin!" Karou cried out as the rest arrived.

"Sessha was nearly late. Gomen Kamatari-san." Kenshin smiled at Kamatari and then dodged another one of Misao's lunges. Yahiko gaped as he watched Misao use wild lunges and blows. Sano stayed quiet, while Karou gasped. Her eyes... her eyes... They were pitch black! Suddenly she brought out her second dagger, her eyes turning a shade of dark slate gray. She raised her first dagger straight before her side, her other one behind her as she twisted her waist.

"Kenshin! Watch out! That's the Jackal strike! She'll attack from behind!" Kamatari yelled out when Misao leapt into the air. Kenshin watched as she suddenly flipped over and landed to his LEFT. Lunging, she moved both daggers close together in a crisscross and then pulled away in a x like slash. Kenshin, however, dodged it with ease.

"Jackal?" Karou turned to Kamatari.

"It's referred to as jackal because in Europe, the jackal is a coward who attacks from the rear of it's prey, taunting it till it falters of exhaustion. It may seem cowardly, but in fact," Kamatari's eyes narrowed, "It's a tactical move which is used more for distraction!"

"How do you know so much about this?" Yahiko demanded.

"Because, Misao has shown me this move plenty of times. Most likely she will use a 4 strike attack or a move called the 'weasel'... which I don't really know about." Kamatari tapped his lip thoughtfully.

"Weasel? Is it me or does her attacks all have animal based themes?" Sano grumped.

"Exactly, Misao's techniques have a very Chinese based theme to them, though..." Kamatari narrowed his eyes even more, "She never went off like THIS!" He moved towards the battle when a blur appeared out of nowhere, hitting Misao soundly in the stomach. She staggered back, her eyes rapidly shifting. Clutching her stomach, Misao glared at Soujirou, who smiled back. Misao let out a animalistic cry when she stopped in her lunge. Falling to her knees, she gripped her face, letting one of her daggers drop. Her eyes turned back to their, now normal, lucid blue, as she looked at her hands. Tears dripped into her open palm and once against she got up, but this time, tears dripped down her face.

"Gomen, Minna-san..." She took a step back and then let her other dagger drop. Swooning, she let exhaustion take over and she fainted, falling to the ground with a thud.

"Misao-chan..." Karou placed another cool towel on the girl's forehead, watching her breath slowly. It was almost like it never happened and she was just sleeping. But, Kamatari told the group everything he knew of to date of Misao's condition. He knew that sometimes she would slip into her thoughts and sometimes even lose control for about a minute or two, but never as long as Misao did. All Kenshin could remark was the theory that when hit with the intense pain of memory or extreme emotion, she would slip into a trance like state where she could mentally hide, leaving the instinctive urges to take complete control... Though Karou, Yahiko, and Sano didn't understand it till he finally made it simple. It was like when Kenshin slipped into the Battousai...

"Misao... what happened to caused you... to be like that?" She stroked the girl's hair and stood up, only to see Soujirou and Kamatari watching from the doorway.

"She'll be okay, just let her rest for a bit, ne?" Karou stood up and left the two men there. Kamatari entered and lifted up the blanket a bit.

"They didn't remove the bindings... No wonder her breathing is so shallow." Kamatari grumped and turned Misao onto her stomach.

"Kamatari! wha... what..." Soujirou stuttered.

"What, you haven't seen a topless girl before? YOU? Don't tell me that your a VIRGIN still!" Soujirou looked down nervously. "Your a VIRGIN?!?!?!?"

"No... Shishio-sama sent me to various 'places'.... but..."

Kamatari sighed, at that time, he supposed, Soujirou-kun had no feelings of the such. Untying the back of her chest bindings, Kamatari slowly unwrapped the bandages from Misao's prone form. After he had finished, he tied the yukata tightly and let out a relieved smile as her breathing seemed much more easier. Glancing back at Soujirou, he found the boy huddling on the end of the terrace, looking as if he was trying to get indecent thoughts out of his head. That was responded with a long peal of laughter.

"Mou, I find nothing funny about that," Soujirou complained to Kamatari, who merely smiled. Soujirou, it seemed, had changed greatly from his 6 years of wandering. He barely acted like that droll, stuffy doll like he did with... Shishio-sama...

...Shishio-sama...

The Kamiya dojo was shaken a minute later from a very enraged cry.

"NANI?????? WHO TOOK OFF MY BINDINGS! SANOOO!!!!!!! IT BETTER HAVE NOT BEEN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!" Misao was about ready to storm the place when she found her current apparel indecent for going on a warpath. Grabbing her pants, he put them on and threw on a white cotton shirt from her bag in the room. It was a bit big around the waist, since Kamatari misjudged her size when he bought it for her, so She used her red sash as a belt and she stormed out, her eyes blazing.

"Hey Weasel, what's all the commotion about?" Sano asked, but barely dodged flying Kunai.

"You PERVERT!"

"NANI?!?!?"

"Misao-dono, what's wrong?" Kenshin asked when he appeared.

"THIS pervert," Misao pointed towards Sano, " Took the bindings off of my chest when I was asleep! Who knows what else he could of done!"

"Hold it! I didn't do anything to you little girl!"

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me!"

"Sano! You'll pay for that!!!!!!" All the while, the two former comrades of the Juppongatanna watched.

"Kamatari..." Soujirou glanced side wards at Kamatari who was trying to look innocent. Soujirou looked at Misao, however, and smiled. Maybe this would come out right after all.

"Misao... or shall I call you Hiro?" Kenshin asked as Misao/Hiro appeared dressed in his usual costume of black and red entered.

"Hiro... Misao... is a painful name now..." She took a tea mug from the table and sipped the tea that she poured from a teapot. (An: I will refer to Misao as Hiro till later on in this fic...)

"Why, Hiro-dono, are you hiding such darkness?" She stopped in mid sip, her eyes widening.

"What, do you mean?"

"You are hiding a horrible past within you, that I am sure of... otherwise you would of not gone into such trance..." Kenshin looked straight into Misao's eyes. Unable to stand the direct gaze, she turned her head.

"Kamatari... told you on my time in Europe, did he not?" She whispered.

"Hai..."

"There is one thing that he didn't know...... I met him 3 years after I left Japan... And... to survive, I was forced to become a mercenary..."  
"A mercenary? Why would Hiro-dono do such a job?"

"I was a girl in Europe. Women there are treated as possessions, as useless items used to gain more items, pawns in the chess game. Even with the help of my 'parents', I was forced to do battle in defense of them from time to time... For a reason even I do not know... I was forced to being a simple pawn to a knight in a chess game for an unknown reason." Misao's eyes half closed.

"Your lying..." Kenshin blurted out. Misao looked up and then laughed as she turned her head.

"Aa... I should of expected that you'd know. But I rather not reveal such information to you." Misao closed her eyes and then stood up. "Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you did not contact the Aoiya or Aoshi-sama about my stay in Tokyo."

"Misao....."

"DON'T call me that!" She demanded when she heard a board creek. Looking up, she growled and took out her daggers. Opening the door, she found Sano and Yahiko sprawled on the floor.

"You two..." She growled, her eyes turning purplish, scaring the heck out of the two 'men'. They scrambled up as Misao chased after them, ready to send them to Megumi's clinic VIA fast flying foot applied to groin. Not wanting to risk their only means of reproducing, the men were dashing off. All the while Karou and Kenji were sleeping, Soujirou and Kamatari watching this from the roof and Kenshin saying "Oro?"

"Hiro-kun!" Kamatari caught up to his companion who was walking ahead of him and Soujirou. She turned around, relieved that Kamatari called her Hiro. She wouldn't want anyone else on this road to hear her real name. It took her long enough to swear Himura to silence about their encounter, but she couldn't help but think about what he had said.

  
~~Flashback~~

After she had punished the 2 peeking toms, Misao sighed and turned to leave the Dojo towards the guestroom.

"Misao, If you not learn how to cope with your pain, you will loose everything dear to you, that you will."

"Nani? Kenshin, what are you talking about?"

Kenshin's eyes stared into hers and Misao turned her head quickly.

~~end of flashback~~

"by the way, Hiro-kun..." Kamatari's voice interrupted her thoughts and she stopped, allowing the 2 to catch up. Kamatari stopped a little bit before her, "Do you sense them?" Hiro nodded quickly and took out her rapier, a fencing saber (a thin sword much like a rapier yet it has a curved end...often used along with a dagger) . With that movement the shadows trailing them exploded as assassins dove for Misao.

"THERE HE IS! KILL HIM!" One cried as he brought his scythe downwards, only to scream as his hands where cut off. Flicking her rapier, She got into the first form. Using her right foot heavily for initial force, she lunged and let her sword pierce another one's heart. Kamatari dodged 3 assassins wild swings and countered with one powerful swing of his scythe, cutting off every one of his attackers head. Misao was handling hers with ease, her bells ringing merrily despite of the death occurring all around them, when... *click* Misao turned around to see a gun aimed at her and fired. It pierced her flesh in-between the shoulder and arm, causing her to falter backwards. Taking advantage of this, one of the men slashed down her back and was prepared to use another deathblow when his arms were slashed off.

"I never wanted to get involved in this..." Soujirou began with his tell tale smile, "But this has gone TOO FAR!" His eyes snapped open and he blurred. 30 seconds later, 15 men lay dead on the ground. Hiro groaned as she stood up.

"Hiro-kun! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, it's a shallow cut and, well..." Hiro opened up her shirts up to the collarbone to show a thin plate of metal covering her right shoulder.

"They've tried it before, and I learn from my mistakes." She flicked the bullet away before rearranging her clothes. They continued their journey till sunrise where they set camp. Kamatari, who was fussing over her wound, whapped her on the back.

"Hiro-chan! Couldn't you be a NORMAL girl who wears a Kimono and gets MARRIED?"

"Oh the irony..." Misao grumbled and then winced as Kamatari slapped the wound on her back. "ITAI! What was that for?" Misao huffed. "The day I wear a Kimono is the day YOU act like a normal MAN!"

"I'll keep you to that promise. Anyway, hungry?" Misao stared blankly at Kamatari's back. What had she gotten herself into? She whapped herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Ano, Hiro-dono... I think you could put your shirts back on." Soujirou pointed out nervously. He had seen her temper and didn't think it wise to get on his... her... bad side.

"Blushing nervously, Hiro quickly put on her inner shirt and turned to Kamatari.

"Ne, Kama-kun... Did you bother to learn to get a cookbook in Tokyo?"

"Yare Yare..." Soujirou watched as Kamatari dragged a reluctant Hiro into the inn. He slowly followed behind, watching Hiro hang onto the doorway.

"No way in hell are you forcing me into one of those!"

"You promised! Now get in HERE!" With a *pop* Misao was dragged inside the room. Soujirou sighed and closed his eyes, but a smile crept onto his face. Kamatari had changed quite a lot since he last saw him. It was as if he was finding the Zeal for life against after... Shishio-sama... Soujirou sat brooding in the cafe, sipping his tea when Kamatari announced, "Soujirou! Look at this!"

Looking up, Soujirou nearly dropped the imported tea mug. Misao as dressed up in a white Kimono with blue flowers sewn along the bottom of the sleeves and the collar, though as it neared the collar, the cloth slowly turned a light rosy hue... Which matched Misao's face by the way. Her hair was left only in a loose ponytail. The bindings had hidden much, and it seemed impossible that the cold, deadly Hiro could transform into such an innocent looking young woman. Kamatari was dressed in a traditional Man's Hakama and Gi, his hair tied back.

"Sou-chan... SOU-CHAN!" Kamatari glared at his staring friend while Misao blushed and then walked over towards the stunned man.

AN: BWA HA HA HA HA! CLIFFHANGER!!!! Actually, I stopped because this is an experimental fic... Reviews are needed........ BADLY!


End file.
